Welcome to the Website of BAGO TRIBE & BAGO PARTY LIST!!!

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BAGO TRIBE:
(Ref. The Bago its Origin and Culture, 1st & 2nd edition)

The Bago Tribe is part of the 1st Malay Migrating groups to the Philippines, who entered and settled at the upper delta of the Amburayan River (Ilocos Provinces), with some going further North and entered and settled at the upper delta of the Abra River and from here, they (the Bago Tribe) migrated to all parts of the country and even abroad.

These upper deltas of the Amburayan River and Abra River were already inhabited by the Bago Tribe before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Northern Philippines. The Spaniards created the upper delta of the Abra River, as Commandancia Politico-Militar de Tiagan in 1847 and the upper delta of the Amburayan River as Commandancia Politico-Militar de Amburayan on April 10, 1890. These commandancias are located at the borders of the Cordillera (Gran Cordillera) and the Ilocos Region, which are now the 14 upland municipalities of Ilocos Sur and the upland municipalities of La Union (namely: Sudipen, Santol, San Gabriel, and Pugo).

So the Bago Tribe, is the indigenous people who originally inhabited the borders of the Cordillera and the Ilocos Region, and those who traced their ancestry from the Old Mountain Province (those Bago Tribe who migrated to the old Mt. Province and those who went back to the lowlands) with their distinct Bago Tribe language, culture, customs and traditions.

The Spanish Missionaries brought Christianity to our forefathers. The Tagalog helpers and aids of these Spanish Missionaries referred to our newly Christened forefathers as "Bagong Kristiano". The name became more prominent as "Bago" in present times. Many other names were used to refer to this tribe, one of which is "Bag-bag-o", which is warped from the Bago term as a discredited name tagged to this tribe.

The Bago tribe is described as “the most organized tribe nationwide” according to Commissioner Rizalino Segundo of the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). According to the NCIP Census of 1996, the Bago is the most numerous in population among the Indigenous People (IP) in the entire country, recorded at over 700,000 people making up over 15% of the total IP population.

HISTORY OF THE BAGO NATIONAL CULTURAL SOCIETY OF THE PHILS., INC. (BNCSPI):

In 1987, the late Damaso Bangaoet Sr. of Baguio City started stirring the group to formalize a Bago organization. As a result, the Bago Cultural Society, Inc. (BCSI) was organized in October 4, 1987, with Teodoro G. Gines as founding president. SEC Registration No. BE00073 was released on April 8, 1988. BCSI continued growing, however, its membership was limited to Bago Tribe members from Baguio City and nearby places.

On August 11, 1996, BCSI coordinated with the then Office of Northern Cultural Communities (ONCC), which is now National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), to nationalize the coverage of the organization. This effort was welcomed and widely supported, resulting in the holding of the first Bago Tribal Congress and Begnas Cultural Festival at Active Resort, Paraoir, Balaoan, La Union on January 28-30, 1997. An important offshoot of this congress was the creation of Bago National Cultural Society of the Philippins, Inc. (BNCSPI) with SEC Registration No. B200000415 which was released on June 22, 2002.

BNCSPI held a tribal congress and cultural festival every three years:
2nd Bago Tribal Congress & Cultural Festival at Saytan, Pugo, La Union on Dec. 20-22, 2000.
3rd Bago Tribal Congress & Cultural Festival at Cabaroan, San Emilio, Ilocos Sur on April 23-25, 2003.
4th Bago Tribal Congress & Cultural Festival at Tabuk, Kalinga on April 26-28, 2006.
5th Bago Tribal Congress & Cultural Festival at Sta. Cruz, Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya on April 22-24, 2009.

BNCSPI AS BAGO PARTY LIST:

Per BNCSPI Board Resolution on August 25, 2006, BNCSPI applied as a sectoral party in the Party List System for congressional seat with the COMELEC. The platform involved in initiating programs and projects to benefit and uplift the Bago and other indigenous people in the country.

After completing all requirements, BNCSPI was granted COMELEC SPP No. 055(PL) application for the party list on September 15, 2006. Several COMELEC hearings were conducted which was properly defended by the BNCSPI team of Atty Romualdo Dumling. Final approval by COMELEC was released on January 16, 2007, allowing the Bago Tribe to participate in the May 14, 2007 Election.

BNCSPI took the party list election challenge and mobilized its members, despite limitations in time, financial and organizational resources, to actively campaign for the Bago Tribe. Sadly, we failed to attain the necessary votes to land a seat in congress.

For the May 2010 elections, Bago is once again running for a seat in the Lower House and will have to surmount the odds that comes with the campaign, most notably raising the needed budget so we can go farther, reach more to get higher vote counts. Our nominees are: Atty. Romualdo M. Dumling, Rev. Dr. Simplicio Dang-awan Jr., Bgen. Manuel Mariano Jr, Atty. Rudolfo E. Lockey & Rev. Dr. Benjamin A. Justo.

We are now ready, we are now stronger and we are more prepared.